By Manuel Olmedo, owner of MOMminiatures
Years ago, I saw a humorous video on social media that said, “When people ask me what I do for a living, I prefer to say I’m an accountant.” Nobody asks an accountant questions. And I would add a few more things: nobody questions an accountant’s lifestyle, their financial stability, or the drive that led them to dedicate themselves to something in which nobody saw a future.
So what do I do these days? I’m a sculptor. When people hear that, they usually imagine me carving stone with a hammer and chisel. I regret to inform you that it’s not quite like that—although, at the beginning, it was somewhat similar. My work isn’t easy to explain, and the miniatures I sculpt definitely aren’t meant for playing chess.
In my case, wargames had always been part of my life since childhood. However, living in a small town meant I couldn’t explore that world very much. Luckily, I shared these interests with my group of friends, and together we gradually learned more about wargames. Whenever we traveled to the city, we would buy miniatures and spend hours painting them.
Over time, I started modifying miniatures with putty. By then I was already attending art school, and I began trying to apply what I was learning to miniature sculpting. Eventually, I started sculpting minis from scratch. I shared them on Facebook, and people seemed to like them, so I thought it might be a good idea to make copies of them to sell.
Plot twist: it wasn’t easy at all.
But after figuring out how to make copies of my minis, I started selling them on commission. That’s when I decided to go all in and dedicate myself to it completely. Back in 2014, MOMminiatures was born. Motivation: 100/100. Support: not so much. And the rest is history.
Of course, it wasn’t all sculpting. For a while I also painted miniatures to sell, and that’s how I realized the market was there—but it wasn’t going to come to me on its own. I had to make myself known. Sharing my models, painting my own miniatures, attending miniature fairs, running Kickstarter campaigns… a lot of work that eventually translated into growth and gratitude.
There are people who have known MOM for many years, and others who are discovering it now through STL files. I’m equally grateful to all of them—both those who helped MOM grow and those who continue to support it today.
Today I dedicate myself entirely to digital miniatures in STL format. After almost 11 years producing physical miniatures, in May 2025 I decided it was time to unleash my full potential as a digital sculptor. I began learning 3D modeling in 2021 and have been working day by day to improve my skills ever since.
It hasn’t been an easy path, but being an “accountant” and doing what you truly love makes it all worthwhile.
Explore Manu’s catalog on Minarium and see why his talent would have been wasted crunching numbers.